Vocalist J.R. Hayes stated that the band's only goal for Book Burner was "fast/brutal" and expressed happiness over the abundance of songs on the album with shorter lengths.
[5] Guitarist Scott Hull also affirmed that the band's goal was "shorter grind" on Book Burner in contrast with the preceding full-length album, Phantom Limb.
"[5] Hull attributed the band's back-to-basics approach to the addition of Jarvis: "Getting a new drummer...inspired us to go back to a shorter, faster and louder demo that we prided ourselves in early on.
"[8] Prior to Jarvis joining the band, Pig Destroyer had rehearsed with Dave Witte several times before an injury and touring commitments with Municipal Waste led him to step aside.
"[7] Hull revealed that this approach was driven, in part, by Harvey's changing musical interests: "towards the end, it was very difficult to do anything like that [short, fast songs], it was easier to do the mid-pace stuff.
But with Adam, we got really inspired to go back to those roots where we just wanted to blast and play really super fast the whole time, so there's a lot of that on Book Burner.
'"[7] Similar to Phantom Limb, Hayes opted to avoid imparting "as much of an overall theme" to Book Burner "because I think people become too focused on that.
[7] However, Hayes did concede that there were links between the individual songs on the album, some of which he was "not even conscious of...[until] other people...basically tell me what the concept is, and what the themes are, and I might not have even been aware of that until somebody says it.
"[7] Hayes explained that "Book Burner", the song from which the album drew its title, was based on Julius Caesar's quote, "Men freely believe what they wish.
[9] Scott Hull explained that the time spent building and moving into a new studio, which also served as the band's new practice space, attracted "a big liability of falling into a kind of a slump.
"[1] Writing for Pitchfork, Jess Harvell described the album as "utterly ugly, thoroughly alienating stuff that doesn't give half a shit if you can stomach its musical and spiritual violence" and noted that it was "less user-friendly than Phantom Limb".
"[2] Describing the album as a "frenzied testament to guitar-based violence", Gregory Heaney praised Book Burner for its sonic clarity, "allowing each gloriously destructive riff to come through crystal clear rather than getting lost in the pummeling drums stampede" and "giving listeners the opportunity to not just feel the bottomless wells of aggression and unfiltered anger that Pig Destroyer channel into their music, but to actually hear and appreciate how technical they are.
"[13] Comparing Book Burner to Phantom Limb, Craig Hayes of Popmatters observed that the former is more "stripped down" yet "equally masterful" in its songwriting, ultimately "propel[ling] an already lauded band into the realms of the truly legendary.
"[3] A more critical tack was taken by Yorgo Douramacos of Slant Magazine, who described the album as "ugly, abrasive, and entirely unpleasant" and questioned whether the album concept was supported by the musical approach: "It's perfectly legitimate that the members of Pig Destroyer should fear censorship and the loss of civil liberties, but can savagery in art ever be an effective antidote to a savage world?